Hoppin’ Mad

My right eye has been twitching for a week on and off. It is incredibly annoying. Good thing it isn’t visible to people I talk to because they might think I’m on the verge of snapping.

I hear eye twitches can occur due to stress, which doesn’t surprise me because this week has pretty much sucked. On a scale of 1 = wtf world? get off my case to 10 = life is good. I’ve been holding steady somewhere around a 2.

What does this have to do with Paleo and living primal? Everything. Keep reading…

Taken from www.wheatbellyblog.com

I just finished reading Wheat Bellyand listening to all 33 Balanced Bites podcasts. I am even more convinced that “healthy whole grains” basically kill people (lofty statement, I know, but I’m too tired for fancy explanations right now).

I am literally one more piece of scientific evidence and conventional-wisdom-de-bunking away from slapping any and all bread, crackers, cookies, donuts, and/or muffins out of the hands of my family and friends and stomping on them (the processed food, not my family).

I seriously don’t know if I am able to control the impulse of dumping a bowl of pasta in the trash right in front of a loved one and then cooking them a steak in grass-fed butter with a side of broccoli and a sweet potato (nom, nom, nom!).

She is 91 years old with a pace maker. (But she still lives alone and balances her own check book without a calculator, smart cookie – no pun intended).

Yesterday, she had her leg amputated just above the knee.

Right leg gone.

She was hospitalized Monday because she caught that horrible stomach bug going around. During her hospitalization she formed a blood clot in her leg. The doctor said it was due to the diabetes – blood circulation is not great when you’re a diabetic.

It was a pretty emotional day since it was a high risk surgery. Our family gathered took over the waiting room and set-up camp for the day, taking shifts visiting her in the CCU.

We got the news around 6:30 PM that she survived the surgery. By 10:00 PM she was back in intensive care talking up a storm cracking up the nurses, my dad and my uncle.

Amazing. Truly amazing. We are so grateful and so happy.

But I’m still hoppin’ mad.

The woman is 91 years old. And she survived a leg amputation (!!!). The rest of her life she will live in a wheel chair. She will be surrounded by her family who will love and care for her, which I’ll take as a positive in all of this.

So, why am I so ticked off ? Because I believe that if she had learned why and how eating grains could quite possibly lead to old age with diabetes, arthritis and heart disease, maybe she wouldn’t have had to go through this wretched surgery. Maybe she would be more comfortable day-to-day and not have to memorize a dozen or more different medication pamphlets. Maybe she wouldn’t have diabetes. Maybe she wouldn’t of had to have her leg amputated.

(I’m consciously ignoring the fact that she is the youngest of 13 in a 100% Italian family and most likely would have been shunned for turning down stuffed shells and cannolis. I’m saving that topic for another post).

Ignorance is bliss…or is it?

One of the pieces of information that has helped solidify the idea of eating Paleo for me is Heba’s post at My Life in a Pyramid about the US dietary guidelines. In the post she interviews Adele Hite, RD, MPH and PhD in-training. Below are just some of the facts from Adele’s presentation at the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Press Conference, but I urge you to read the full post by Heba here and watch Adele explain the state of affairs in her own words.

The first dietary guidelines were released in 1980 by the USDA

These guidelines were never scientifically tested, yet conventional wisdom on nutrition and exercise are based on them

Despite the food pyramid directives in the last 30 years our health has deteriorated

Obesity has doubled

Diabetes has tripled

Taken from the Healthy Nation Coalition. Adele Hite, co-founder.

I feel like I’ve been taught a bunch of lies. I am confused, annoyed and frustrated at not being able to re-learn what is healthy and what is unhealthy nutrition over night. Change takes time though, and I realize this. So I will be patient. No one should feel bad about not knowing what is good for them because they put their trust in something that turns out to be a big fat lie. Good thing is, I am not afraid of change. Which is how we got started down this road in the first place. The more people that educate themselves and take their health into their own hands, the better.

I am not even saying the Paleo is the right solution for everyone (although I might bite my tongue later for saying that). I’m just saying that I think grains, whole or not, are so not right for anyone.

Ok, I’m done with my rant. And I feel a lot better.

If you’ve stuck with me this far, here are some tid-bits my gram has taught me over the years. Hands down the strongest, most amazing woman I know….

From the blog…

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